For the Ladies-Aimee @ It's Overflowing!

Hello Imprintalish Friends!!!

Thanks Lish for inviting me to guest post!  I love that Lish always has the most CREATIVE ideas to share with us at Imprintalish, don't you!!!I'm Aimee from It's Overflowing.  I'm mommy to three sweet B's and married to the most studly man ever, whom I affectionately call my photographer, he's also my self-taught electrician, woodwork and the list goes on and on.  We're remodeling our 1950s original rancher and we'd love for you to join us daily as we share our DIY adventures.  Along the way, I'm learning to operate the manual settings on my SLR from my photographer (my hubby) and I'll be sharing his tips with you over at It's Overflowing!

Tis the Holiday Season!  I wanted to share a simple gift with a special touch!  This would be perfect for you to make and gift to friends, family and teachers.  It's SUPER EASY and it looks and smells beautiful! Making fancy soap bars is so simple and with this added touch, you're sure to impress!  All you need is a soap mold, pure glycerin soap, your favorite aroma scent, food coloring of your choice, a charm that makes you smile, a nail set and hammer.  I found the bath items at Hobby Lobby and with the constant 40% off coupon you can pull up on your phone, totally a deal! 

Grab a microwave-safe bowl and your cheese grater - no worries, you're working with soap.  It cleans up easily with hot water, much easier then cheese!  Grate two bars of the glycerin soap into the bowl.When you get to the end of the bar, just toss the excess piece into the bowl, it'll melt just fine!

Next, decide on a color for your bar of soap.  There are tons of options or you can stick with a basic color!!!  1 green and 1 blue!?!  1 yellow and 1 orange?!?  Whichever combination you decide, you will need 1-3 drops of food coloring.  My food coloring preference is always the gel formula ~ less mess.  

I chose 2 drops of blue coloring.  Now using a butter knife blend the coloring with the soap.  It doesn't have to be perfectly blended at this point.  

Next add a half a dropper of your favorite fragrance.  I chose Vanilla Pomegranate and highly recommend it!!!  I may have to place a soap bar in each room because the flavor is just so yummy!!!  Use your knife to mix the fragrant throughout.  

Place your bowl with colored soap into the microwave for 24 seconds (time may vary), until your soap is completely liquified.

Immediately, pour the liquid soap into your soap mold and prepare to wait patiently for the next 20 minutes. The soap is ready to be removed when the temperature is luke warm and no longer hot.  Use a knife to cut around the top 1/8 inch, breaking the seal.  Then pull the mold back a bit to wiggle the soap free from the mold.

Next, place your soap upright and press your charm into the soap mold.  Take your nail set (I used the fatter end) and hammer and while holding the charm in place, hammer around the charm until an imprint has been made in the soap.

If you've been to It's Overflowing before, you are totally not surprised that I chose a feather charm!  Don't you think it's fitting for Thanksgiving!?!?  You know Indians...feathers...turkeys!?!?  Perfect, right!  

Once the soap is completely dry, place it in a sack with a bow.  If you want to add a fun touch and have some tree trimmings laying around, use a miter saw to cut a thin coaster for the soap.  Be sure to let the wood coaster dry completely 24-36 hours before using.  Cute, right!?  And just a little FYI, my Sweet B's loved making soap with me!  It's fun to let them contribute when gift giving!

If you're visiting from Imprintalish...I'd love to have you visit sometimes soon at It's Overflowing where I update you daily on our endless diy projects, favorite recipes and fun!  Here are a couple of my favorite tutorials: our kitchen remodel, my Curbside Table turns Dazzling Kitchen Cart, and if you're trying to sort out outfits for your annual family picture you'll find some suggestions, too!!!

Thanks so much for sharing this tutorial with us Aimee! It's such a great gift idea and has so many options to personalize it with their favorite scent or even monogram it! Happy Thanksgiving!